By Steven Asarch

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Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is an incredibly fun game, once you understand how to play it. There's town building, spell crafting and Higgledee farming all before you even leave the first continent. But the combat takes a long time to get the hang of, with few tutorials to help you get the full grasp of the system. In the beginning, all you do is mash triangle and square in an attempt to deal damage, dodging out of the way when things get too heated. As the game progresses, you'll need to rely more heavily on your Ting Meter, Higgledy management and the Tactic Tweaker to survive.

Ni No Kuni II Combat Basics: Tips and Strategies for Getting Started

Party Selection

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• As your journey progresses, you'll get more heroes to help you along your journey, though you can only take three into battle at a time.
• Choosing a party that complements each other's strengths is crucial. For instance, there's no reason to take Tani and Leander in the same party, unless you need lots of ranged damage.
• I'm a huge fan of Batu, the brawly sky pirate with the Scottish brogue, pairing him with Noland and Leander . It's great to have a tank and two high DPS for backup. Finding out which of the final six characters fit your playstyle takes time.
• If you are getting bored in the early game with what feels like simple combat, be patient. I couldn't believe how easy the fights were when I started my journey, but by the end I had committed everything to the fight. If you're raring for a challenge, expect to wait at least 10 hours and four kingdoms.

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Items: What To Equip

• Each member of your team can take three weapons, a ranged gun or wand, a cloak, boots, a pendant and a ring. White is common, blue is rare and red is epic.
• Weapons have a physical and magical attack rating.
• Armor and accessories have a physical and magic defense rating.
• As you progress and level up, you'll find stronger items hidden in chests or dropped by monsters in battle. The drops are random, so if you want something specific you'll have to go to a merchant and buy it or craft it.
• You can upgrade your weapons and armor at the Armory once you get your town. We'd recommend holding off on doing this until you reach the end game. There's no need to waste precious resources on items you'll just sell or throw away.

Staying Alive: Managing Health, MP, Zing and more

• Ni No Kuni 2 has two different resource systems for battle: health and MP. Those little blue MP dots next to your character's icon in battle are your main way to deal damage and need to be managed at all times. There's nothing more annoying than needing to use a skill, only to discover out of resources.
• Ranged attacks also use MP, so it's important that you fill that meter up by using your melee attacks.
• Zing effects give your skills an added bonus, like a devastating final blow after a sword slash or added damage on your fireballs. After slapping enemies with your melee attacks, the meter on the left side of the screen for all weapons will rise. Once it reaches 100 percent, you'll add a Zing effect on your next skill. After you use the skill, the meter on one weapon goes down to zero.
• In the beginning of the game, try to equip at least two weapons at all times, though one is always going to be stronger than the other. Keeping one at 100 percent Zing is useful, but not always necessary. Your bar fills up fairly quickly, about 7 to 10 percent per melee attack.
• Once you get your kingmaker, he'll throw out a golden ball. Picking it up will initiate an awakening, which will allow you to absorb Higgledy power and deal more damage. A meter will appear where your MP bar once was and will drain quickly. Your spells cost zero Mana in this mode.

Know Your Opponent: Enemy Basics

• Monsters that are weaker than your current level have grey or blue names on the overworld map. Stronger ones have their names displayed in orange and red, while beasts at your same level are white.
• Monsters you encounter in dungeons or forests will immediately fight you if you get close enough and will create a barrier around the battlefield to seal you in. While on the overworld minimap, where all your characters turn chibi, monsters will only approach you if they are stronger and can see you. An exclamation mark will appear around their head, but if they lose interest you'll see a floating question mark.
• Overworld monsters can be much stronger than you, so make sure to avoid unnecessary fights.
• Some of the stronger monsters have charge-up attacks that can potentially kill you in one hit. When you see a bright orange glow around anything larger than you, hit him with everything you got and then run away as fast as possible. If you manage to knock the beast over, its concentration will break, preventing it from unleashing a super attack.
• Purple monsters hang out all over the world map and killing them nets you rewards like Angel's Tears (which resurrect your fallen allies) or Soreaways (which heal for a small amount). Don't be alarmed if they are 10 or so levels higher than you, that's where the challenge lies. Just don't waste all your items to kill a beast when there's a boss fight right around the corner.

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Learn To Love Higgledys

• Higgledys are a new addition in Ni No Kuni II. These nature sprites aid you in battle with extra artillery, heals or enemy debuffs. Collecting them is a pain, but the added bonus of an extra helper in a tense fight can't be overstated.
• Every Higgledy has two basic parameters: Feistiness (attack) and Hardiness (defense).
• Each Higgledy has four skills, two are white (basic) and two are green (special). A white circle will appear on the ground in battle when they are ready to attack, heal or help out.
• Putting certain sets of Higgledys together will net you bonuses.
• Certain elemental Higgledies can enhance your skills by holding down R2 near one of them. You'll need a few of them to improve a spell. You can find out how many are needed in the Equipment and Skills menu.
• Higgledies can be cooked once you have a town at the Higglery or found in rocks around the map. They are often hidden in caves and need some sort of item offering to be coaxed out of their shell.
• There are 100 Higgledys to collect in total, each with their own unique personalities and abilities. If you want to see a full list or read a small biography on your nymph friend, open the Higgledy Almanac in the Library menu.
• You won't be able to level up Higgledys or cook new ones until you earn your kingdom, so equip the ones that fit your playstyle. Some heal your partners while others throw out massive waves of energy. The elements are fairly irrelevant, except for boosting your skills.

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